During breakfast the following morning, Sirius managed to Transfigure the latest letter from his mum into a slide whistle. He was in the middle of practising an off-key rendition of one of his favourite Muggle tunes when he realized that the Great Hall had fallen unusually quiet.

James gave him a nudge and jerked his head towards the staff table. Dumbledore had risen from his seat and was waiting, hands folded, for the Hall to grow silent. Sirius blew a sad-sounding note through the slide whistle and set it gently on the table.

"Thank you, Mr Black," said Dumbledore. His eyes swept over the four long tables in the Great Hall. "Now that I have everyone's attention, I am afraid that I have an announcement to make."

Several students exchanged nervous glances. Sirius caught Remus' eye — surely if something bad had happened, it would have been in the Daily Prophet — but Remus shook his head, looking as confused as Sirius felt.

"It has been brought to my attention that Sally Dearborn, the Head Girl, did not return to her dormitory last night after the Halloween feast," continued Dumbledore. "The Heads of House, along with myself, have conducted a thorough search of the castle and have failed to discover where she might have gone. I must request that any student with information on the matter come forward at once; it is possible that Miss Dearborn is in jeopardy, and time may be of the essence. In the meantime, the staff of Hogwarts will be coordinating daily search parties around the castle and its grounds. Students who wish to participate need only speak to their Head of House."

With a shake of his elaborate velvet robes, Dumbledore sat down. After a moment, the Great Hall began to buzz with conversation.

James leaned across the table, beckoning Sirius, Remus and Peter in conspiratorially. "Dumbledore seems worried, doesn't he? Reckon Sally ran away?"

"Nah," said Sirius. "That doesn't make sense. She's got too much going for her. Head Girl, top of her class…"

Remus' brow creased. "I wonder if it has anything to do with her father's politics. Last week's Prophet mentioned that his department's been getting threats over that Act of his."

"Could be," said James. "Maybe he pulled her out of Hogwarts to keep her safe, and this whole 'missing person' thing is a front. Merlin knows Caradoc's paranoid enough to pull something like that."

Half of Hogwarts shared James' theory, it turned out; in the week that followed, the news that the Head Girl had gone missing was the source of much gossip around Hogwarts. Many students, especially those from pure-blooded families, thought that Caradoc Dearborn had simply spirited his daughter away to safety. Sirius, on the other hand, was considerably more pessimistic about Sally's fate, though he didn't voice his theories out loud. He suspected that Remus was of a similar mind, considering the way he began to disappear behind the pages of the Daily Prophet during breakfast and would only reemerge after reading the entire thing from cover to cover.

To Sirius' annoyance, James immediately signed them up to participate in not one but two different search parties ("It'll be good for the map! " James had protested when Sirius accused him of becoming a do-gooder. "We'll have a built-in excuse if they catch us poking around somewhere we're not supposed to be!").

These search parties ended up being mostly useless; the most interesting thing Sirius and James managed to find was a room on the third floor which contained a trapdoor to a hidden corridor. As soon as Chester Fernsby, who was leading the search party, looked the other way, Sirius furtively added the room to the map.

After a few days passed, however, it became increasingly clear that none of the search parties had found any leads on Sally Dearborn. All of her belongings were still in her dormitory, save for her wand, and rumour had it that she'd left the Halloween feast with her meal unfinished. It was as if she'd simply vanished into thin air.

On Wednesday morning, Sirius woke to several loud bangs, followed by a popping sound. "Prongs," he said blearily as he groped for his wand, "What —"

A heavy weight landed on his legs. "Happy birthday!" said James, beaming and bouncing up and down on Sirius' bed. "How does it feel to be of age?"

"A bit painful, actually," said Sirius, pushing James off of him. Another bang sounded from above as James tumbled to the floor, and Sirius looked up. Fireworks were exploding in the half-enchanted sky depicted on the ceiling of their dormitory. Another firework went off with a fizzing sound, raining down red and gold sparks upon the canopies of their beds.

"Nice," said Sirius appreciatively. He squinted at the ceiling, which looked suspiciously bright. "What time is it?"

"Half-past ten," said Peter. "We figured we'd let you sleep in. Hope you weren't planning on attending any classes today…"

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Sirius. He slid out of his silk pyjamas and into a set of robes which were crumpled in a pile on the floor. "Right, where're you lot hiding my presents?"

James waggled a finger at him. "Not so fast. That comes later."

"Sod later," said Sirius. He picked up his wand off the bedside table and cleared his throat. "Accio presents."

Nothing happened.

"You wankers," said Sirius. "You didn't get me any —"

Remus exchanged a glance with James before saying, "Do you remember what we're doing tonight, Pads?"

"Of course," said Sirius. "We're going to eat at the Three Broomsticks and then wreak havoc at that Muggle theme park in Lancashire."

"Right," said James. He cleared his throat. "There's been a slight change of plans. We'll have dinner at mine." He spoke so quickly Sirius could barely understand him. "I tried to talk them out of it, but you know how my parents are. You're like a second son to them, you know, and they wanted to celebrate. I know you probably think it's pants, spending the evening with them, so we don't have to stay long if you don't want, and after we can still —"

Sirius tackled him, and James broke off. "Of course I want to eat with your parents," said Sirius, ruffling James' hair. "They're lovely." His grin grew mischievous. "Lovely and rich, which makes for excellent presents. Good show, Prongs."

They spent the morning drinking an expensive bottle of spirits that Peter had swiped from his mum before the start of term, and in the afternoon they mapped out the Prefect's bathroom in exquisite detail, per Sirius' request.

"I can't wait till we figure out how to track people on this thing," said Sirius, running his hands lovingly over the map. "Imagine knowing exactly which sequence of bubbles Madeleine Prewett in Ravenclaw likes in her bath…"

"You pervert," said Remus. "Let the poor prefects bathe in peace."

"You just don't want us to figure out why you spend so much time 'thinking about Arithmancy' in the prefect's bathroom," said Sirius.

"The mermaid statue is brilliant at solving equations," said Remus. "I've told you that before."

"Is she, now?" asked Sirius. "That's good to know. There are a couple of Arithmancy theorems I never could wrap my head around, I ought to tag along the next time you have a bath…"

Remus' nostrils flared, and Sirius winked at him.

In the Gryffindor common room that evening, James took a pinch of Floo powder and tossed it into the fireplace, making the flames blaze green. Professor McGonagall had spoken to James' parents and agreed to arrange a temporary connection between Fleamont Potter's study and the Gryffindor common room. Students were generally not allowed to leave Hogwarts mid-term, but Sirius suspected that Professor McGonagall was being lenient because she felt sorry for him. He almost wished she'd refused the Potters' request; the thought of being pitied by the Hogwarts professors made him deeply uncomfortable.

Before James stepped into the fire, he pointed at Remus and Peter. "I turned the Fanged Geranium on your bedside table into a Portkey, Pete. It'll take you to the theme park at nine o'clock sharp. Bring the girls, too, would you?"

"You're joking," said Peter. "I loved that plant!"

"I'll buy you another one for Christmas," said James. "Promise."

Peter made a face. "And a new set of dress robes."

"Done," said James, checking his watch. "Right, see you lot at nine, then." He strolled into the flickering emerald flames and promptly disappeared.

Sirius followed suit, though he had to bend at the waist to fit inside the hearth. There was a roar in his ears as he spun through the flames and away from Hogwarts. He'd always liked travelling by Floo; it felt rather like being buffeted about by a massive storm. It was exhilarating.

The fire spat him out onto the crimson rug of Fleamont Potter's study. James was waiting for him, his hands in his pockets. "Took you long enough. Thought you'd forgotten the address."

"Of course you did," said Sirius. He smacked James on the back of his head. and James retaliated by jumping on him. They staggered downstairs, mock-fighting the entire way.

"Mum," called James as Sirius attempted to push him over the bannister, "we're home!"

The Potters were waiting for them at the dining room table. Sirius untangled himself from James long enough to shake hands with Fleamont and give Euphemia a kiss. "Thank you for the dinner, Mrs Potter." He scanned the table and his face lit up. "Did you make dumplings?"

Euphemia Potter draped an arm around Sirius and pulled him into a hug. She felt thinner than Sirius remembered, though her hugs were as comforting as ever. "A little birdie told me that dumplings are your favourite."

"They are." Sirius eyed the table hungrily as he sat down. So much food had been prepared that all the platters could hardly fit.

"How are things at Hogwarts?" asked Fleamont Potter, helping himself to some rice. He had the same uncontrollable shock of hair as James, though Fleamont's had long since gone white.

"Excellent," said James. "We have so much free time as sixth years, you wouldn't believe it. I get to practice Quidditch every day."

"Loads of homework, though," added Sirius through a mouthful of dumplings. "Nothing we can't handle, mind…"

James pushed a piece of flatbread around on his plate, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Dad, do you know Caradoc Dearborn?"

Fleamont blinked and pushed his spectacles up his nose. "In a manner of speaking. I occasionally consult with the Department of Magical Artefacts, and he comes through from time to time. Looking at licenses, that sort of thing — I think he deals with a lot of paperwork as Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Why do you ask?"

"Erm," said James, "well, his daughter Sally's in Gryffindor, yeah? She's Head Girl, actually. Well, she was. I mean —"

"Sally went missing the other night," added Sirius. "Have you heard anything about it?"

Fleamont frowned. "I can't say that I have."

Euphemia set her fork down worriedly. "I don't recall there being anything in the Prophet about a disappearance."

"Well, it's only been a few days," said James. "But there's been search parties and everything. Dumbledore made an announcement at breakfast on Monday."

"That's odd," said Fleamont. "I don't believe a student has been harmed at Hogwarts for nearly fifty years."

"Well, it's not certain that she was harmed, is it?" said James. "Caradoc could've taken Sally out of Hogwarts for her safety."

Sirius shook his head. "I think that's wishful thinking, mate. Right, Mr Potter?"

Fleamont exchanged a concerned look with Euphemia. "It's difficult to say. I certainly hope no ill has befallen Sally, for her sake." He peered at Sirius shrewdly over his spectacles. "By the way, Sirius — you may call me 'Fleamont' if you don't mind."

Sirius froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. "Er… right, that's — Fleamont, yeah —"

"Godric's mane, Padfoot," said James. "Just call him 'dad' already and be done with it. We've already practically adopted you."

"If you were a few years younger we would have," said Euphemia, relaxing a bit now that they had moved on to a lighter topic. "It's a bit late now since you are of age, but I hope you know that we consider you family, Sirius."

Sirius didn't respond; his face felt uncomfortably hot.

"Speaking of," said James as Lottie the house-elf began to clear their plates, "What'd you get Sirius for his birthday?"

Sirius kicked at James under the table. "Have some tact, will you?"

Euphemia smiled. "It is time for presents, isn't it?" She rose from the table, but Lottie tugged on her sleeve and gestured for her to sit down, then sped out of the room. The house-elf returned only seconds later, holding a simple black box. She set it in front of Sirius and bowed low, backing into the hallway.

Sirius stared at the box. He glanced at Euphemia. "You really didn't have to —"

"Sirius," said James, "for the love of — "

Euphemia shushed him. "Don't thank us until you open it," she told Sirius. The wrinkles around her eyes grew deeper as she smiled warmly at him.

Sirius lifted the smooth lid of the box, and his eyes widened. Inside was a watch, but it didn't look like the kind that most wizards received on their seventeenth birthday. Generally, wizarding watches had multiple faces that charted the lunar cycle, or hands that told location as well as time, or a timer that ticked down to some unknown, usually fortuitous, future event. This watch only had one face, encased in gold and attached to a reddish-brown leather band, but it still looked exquisitely well-made.

"It's called an Elgin," said Fleamont when Sirius didn't say anything. "It's a Muggle brand; they only make them in America. It doesn't have many additional features — as far as I'm aware, it only tells the hour — but I know you like that old Muggle watch of yours, so…"

Sirius tried to examine the watch's hands, but it was difficult because his eyesight had gone all blurry. He sniffed. In an instant, Euphemia was on her feet, but James reached Sirius before she did and threw his arms around him. "We love you, mate. I love you."

Sirius leaned into the brittle weight of Euphemia's arms as she joined the hug. A hand that must have been Fleamont's landed on his shoulder and squeezed a little.

"Our hope," said Fleamont in his grave, kind voice, "is that this birthday marks a new start for you. Your family casts a long shadow, but now you are free."

Sirius swiped at his eyes. "Thank you." He twisted a little, just enough to look at the Potters. "I love you, too."

After Lottie had finished clearing the table, James and Sirius ran up the stairs and into Fleamont's study. James thought that dinner had gone quite well, all things considered. Sirius had even shown emotion apart from anger or melancholy. That counted as a success in James' book.

In the study, James fished around in his bag and pulled out a quill with scraggly feathers that had been snapped in half. "What time is it?"

"Five till nine," answered Sirius. He grinned as he twisted his wrist back and forth, examining the way his new watch caught the light. "Your parents are bloody amazing, by the way."

"'Course they are," said James. "They're the best."

Sirius was still fixated on his watch. "Your dad went all the way to America to get this, I suppose?" He sounded casually disinterested, but James knew Sirius too well to be fooled by his tone of voice.

"Most likely. Anything for their second son."

Sirius' head snapped up. "Come off it. Your parents are good to me, but they don't — that's completely…"

He trailed off as the grandfather clock in the corner the study let out a solemn chime. James lunged forward and dragged Sirius' wrist to the quill just in time. He felt a strong tug around his abdomen, and Sirius yelped. The grandfather clock seemed to cut off mid-toll as they vanished.

They reappeared at the end of a long queue that stretched from a red ticket window to over halfway across a car park. James' knees buckled as he hit the concrete, and he nearly knocked over the man at the end of the queue.

The man turned with a disapproving frown, and James tried to look apologetic. "Erm, sorry, sir — my friend pushed me…"

The man grumbled something that sounded like 'youth' before turning back around. Sirius nudged James in the ribs and gestured towards the ticket window, where three Muggles in uniform were taking funny-looking paper banknotes and passing out tickets.

"Brilliant, we made it," said James. "I wonder if the others are already here?"

Sirius was staring past the ticket window at the enormous wheel with dazzling neon lights that towered over the theme park. "I think I can see people in the passenger cars! This is wicked."

"Nice Muggle slang," said James. "Very natural." He craned his neck. Past the big wheel, there was what looked to be a convoluted train track with a steep hill, held hundreds of feet above the ground by wooden scaffolding.

When they reached the front of the queue, James reached for his wand, intending to Confund the Muggle behind the ticket window, but Sirius put a hand on his arm. "No need," he said brightly, pulling a wad of banknotes from his back pocket.

James' mouth fell slightly open as he watched Sirius shove the money at the Muggle attendant. "Whatever happened to being skint?"

"Leftover from the summer," explained Sirius. "I exchanged a lot of Galleons for Muggle money in August. Y'know, when I still had access to the vaults." He was watching the attendant sift through the banknotes with a look that was almost hungry.

"You genuinely like Muggle stuff, don't you?" asked James once the attendant had waved them through. "I thought you were just putting on an act to get under your parents' skin, but…"

"Of course I do," said Sirius, whose head was turning back and forth as they entered the theme park. He seemed more interested in the crowds of Muggles than the rows of brightly coloured game booths lining the street. "This is a completely different culture than ours. It's cool." He swept out his arms and indicated the towering big wheel and its illuminated, slowly-turning spokes.

"There you are!" said a voice. James turned; Remus was sitting on the edge of a large, circular fountain filled with jets of water that grew increasingly taller towards the centre. Beside him, Peter was trying to toss a handful of Knuts into the centre jets.

"You lot made it here alright, then?" asked Sirius, loping towards them.

Remus nodded. "We snuck everyone down the tunnel that leads to Honeydukes and took the Portkey once we were in Hogsmeade. No problems whatsoever."

"Where's the others?" asked James.

Peter threw a Knut into the fountain. "The girls are at a game booth that's offering an enormous stuffed lion as a prize." He tossed another coin, which landed with a splash. "I suspect the thing's rigged, though. And I think the Quidditch team are trying one of the coasters."

"Roller coasters, Pete," said Sirius. "And the booths aren't rigged. Muggles believe in fairness — with hard work and a little luck, everyone can win."

"You sound like a textbook," said Peter. "Brushed up on Muggle Studies before you came here, did you?"

"Want to know what else I learned in Muggle Studies?" asked Sirius. He made an extremely rude gesture, and Peter responded throwing a Knut at him. Sirius ducked, and the coin soared over his shoulder, hitting a Muggle woman who was pushing a buggy.

"Sorry, ma'am," called James, laughing at Peter's look of horror. "Teenagers, you know…"

Sirius, Remus and Peter decided to see if they could help the girls win the stuffed lion. James had a sneaking suspicion that the booths really were rigged, despite Sirius' insistence otherwise, so he went to find the Quidditch team instead. He spotted Simon Ashworth towering over the queue for the roller coaster and pushed his way through the crowd to reach the rest of the team.

Peregrine Flint clapped a hand on James' back in greeting. "Alright, James? How's Sirius?"

"In his element," said James. "You ought to see the way he looks at the Muggles. I can't tell if he wants to eat them or ask for an autograph."

Parvana giggled. Out of all of them, she looked the most convincingly Muggle in a long wool coat and jeans. Peregrine, in contrast, was wearing a fluffy bathrobe over a pair of dungarees, and Simon was dressed, incredibly, in what looked to be an orange boilersuit.

"I'm not even going to ask," said James with a pointed look at Simon's outfit.

Simon, at least, had the good sense to look sheepish. "My mum's house-elf ordered it for me. From one of those, whaddaya call them, catalogues."

"I'd be interested in what catalogue she used," said James. "You look like a construction worker."

"A what?"

"Never mind," said James. He turned to Parvana. "At least you look like you've set foot in Muggle England before."

Parvana's cheeks darkened. "My nanny growing up was a Muggle. I know that sounds… I mean, now, with things being how they are, it sounds…"

"A bit like pure-blood tosh?"

"Yeah," said Parvana. She gave him a small smile. "I really liked her, though. And she… I'm not sure if she ever worked out what my family was, specifically, but she knew we were a bit different. She made sure I got plenty of exposure to the… the Muggle world."

"Well, she did a good job," said James. "I think you look nice."

Peregrine wolf-whistled, and James shoved him good-naturedly. He stumbled backwards and nearly into the Muggle attendant who was running the turnstile; they'd reached the front of the queue for the roller coaster.

"This is going to be great," said Simon appreciatively as he climbed into the nearest car. He had to fold his long legs nearly to his chest to fit. "Imagine… in a minute we'll be going full speed down that big hill…"

"You say that like you've never done a Wronski Feint before," said Parvana as she, James, and Peregrine joined Simon in the car.

"Well, Simon plays Keeper, to be fair," said James. "I'm not sure he's ever moved more than five feet on a broom in a single stretch."

"You'd better watch it," said Simon, nudging James' shoulder. "Wouldn't want you to have an accident as we're hurtling towards the ground…"

"Speaking of," said Parvana, as the car gave a little jolt and began to trundle forward, "I think this roller coaster's maximum speed is only sixty miles per hour."

"Sounds fast," said Simon.

"For a Keeper it is," said Parvana, and James snorted. "But I've done quicker on a training broom. So I thought, if we wanted to speed things up a bit…" She reached into the sleeve of her woolly coat and pulled out her wand.

James gawked at her. "You absolute madwoman."

Parvana merely smiled and set her wand across her lap.

The car moved jerkily along the track until it reached the base of the hill and began to climb slowly towards the top. The rumble of the car grew louder — James was certain that magic was less complicated than whatever mechanism was pulling the car steadily upwards — until they had nearly reached the crest of the hill. James peered over the edge of the car. From this height, the fluorescent lights of the game booths winked up at him like stars, and he wondered if the girls had won their stuffed lion.

The car jerked forward. Its nose tilted slowly downward, and James took a breath. The hill suddenly seemed much taller than it had from the ground. Beside him, Parvana whispered a spell.

"If I piss myself, Parvana —" started Peregrine, but the rest of his words were cut off as they plummeted towards the ground far below.

Faster and faster they went as they hurtled downward, gaining speed. Simon screamed. The incline was so steep, surely the car would be flung off the tracks — there was a metallic screech as the back wheels of the car came off the rails — the ground was rising to meet them, they were going to crash —

The car slammed into the bottom of the hill and bounced, soaring off the tracks entirely and into the air. Simon's scream turned into something that sounded like a sob. The car did a corkscrew twist in midair, and James' stomach dropped as they were flipped upside down. After a moment, the car righted itself and began to plummet once more towards the tracks below. The cold night air rushed past James' face, and he whooped. Beside him, Parvana laughed.

"I think I'm going to be sick," announced Simon several minutes later when the car finally came to a halt at the entrance to the roller coaster. The perplexed Muggle attendant ushered them off the ride immediately, muttering something about faulty brakes.

James' legs wobbled as they staggered off the platform. He grabbed onto Parvana's arm for support. "That was fantastic."

Parvana patted James' hand as she checked her watch. "We reached a top speed of one hundred and eighteen miles per hour," she said. "Excellent. I've only ever gotten up to one hundred and twelve on my broom." She looked around brightly at the rest of the team, whose faces were varying shades of green. "Who wants to go another round?"

"Where shall we go next?" asked Lily as she, Marlene and Mary left one of the brightly coloured booths and began to stroll towards the fountain. Mary was carrying a stuffed lion nearly as big as she was. At first, Lily had been reluctant to attend Sirius Black's birthday party — it had seemed in poor taste to be celebrating, after the news that the Head Girl had gone missing — but now that she was here, surrounded by the bright lights and the warm, familiar smells of the Muggle world, she was glad to have come.

"Let's buy candy floss," said Marlene. "I've always wanted to try some."

"You've had Fairy Floss at Honeydukes," said Lily. "Candy floss is exactly the same. Actually, it's worse, because it doesn't change colours."

Marlene waved a hand. "Don't spoil this for me. I wanna experience a traditional Muggle sweet."

Lily laughed and steered them towards a large map of the park. "Candy floss…" she muttered, running her finger down the map. There were so many attractions that it was difficult to tell where they were.

Somebody else stepped up to the map, and their coat brushed against Lily's arm. "Sorry," she said automatically, pulling away. She glanced at the stranger, who staring intently at the map. He was tall and angular, with carefully styled hair —

Lily blinked. "Regulus?"

He didn't so much as look at her. "Don't give me away."

Lily was still staring at him. He was wearing a black jumper and a starched wool coat instead of his usual tailored robes. He could have passed for a Muggle. "What are you doing here?"

"I think you know the answer to that." He traced the map with a finger much the same way she had done, though his hand was shaking slightly. "Do you happen to know where my brother is?"

"No, and I wouldn't tell you if I did," said Lily, irked that he was treating her cooly. "Why did you come here? To ruin his birthday?"

Regulus glanced over his shoulder before responding, and Lily followed his gaze. Mary and Marlene were sitting on the edge of the fountain and playing with the stuffed lion, paying them no mind. They must have charmed the lion, because it was looking around dopily, its tail twitching slightly.

"I overheard some of your House talking," said Regulus at last. "First about Sirius' birthday. Then about a Muggle theme park in Lancashire."

"You —"

He lifted a shoulder. "It didn't take a genius to realize he was having his birthday at the theme park. I couldn't figure out how your House was getting here, though. Portkey, or Floo, I suppose?" He looked at her as if waiting for confirmation, but Lily said nothing. After a moment, he continued. "Anyway, I ended up flying from Hogwarts. That took a few hours, but here I am."

"Congratulations," said Lily icily. "Here you are. And now you want to cause family drama on Sirius' birthday. Have I got that right?"

A hint of colour crept up Regulus' neck. "No. That's not — I just want to speak with him."

"About what?"

"You wouldn't understand. I just need —" He was rapidly losing the air of indifference he'd been putting on. "Our family, they've been — and now —" He glanced again towards Mary and Marlene.

"For God's sake," said Lily exasperatedly, looking around. There was a game booth a few yards away that boasted a cheerful array of balloons which needed to be popped with darts. She grabbed Regulus by the arm and dragged him around the corner of the booth. "I was right that you're here on family business, then."

Regulus seemed to relax slightly once they were hidden from the crowd. "In a manner of speaking."

"But Sirius is of age now, isn't he? Your family doesn't have any more say in what he does."

"I know," said Regulus. "That's another problem."

"How so?"

Regulus shifted his weight impatiently. "Look, I don't have time to get into details. And you wouldn't understand, anyway, as you're a —"

"A what, exactly?"

Regulus met her gaze. "I wasn't going to use the word you're thinking of. We're not all like that." He drew a deep breath through his nose, though it didn't seem to do much to steady his nerves. "I only mean to say that you don't know what it's like, being from an old pure-blood family — there are traditions. Responsibilities he ought to assume."

"Or else what?"

Regulus' mouth slanted downward into a frown. He looked as if he was considering the possibility for the first time. "They'll — remove him from the family. It won't be pretty."

"I dunno," said Lily. "If I was from a Dark family I think I'd be glad to be rid of them. I bet Sirius feels the same way."

Regulus was shaking his head. "That's not — he can't… I just want to talk to him, Lily. Do you know where he is?"

Lily regarded Regulus critically. He looked desperate; maybe she could use that to her advantage. "I'll tell you where Sirius is if you'll tell me what happened to Sally Dearborn."

Regulus blanched. He looked for a moment like he was going to be sick. "I don't know."

"Of course you don't. You show up in the hospital wing half-dead, then Sally gets into it with you at the prefect meeting, and now she's missing. Awfully convenient, isn't it?"

"No. She wasn't — look, I really don't know, alright?"

"I don't believe you," said Lily. "I'm not an idiot. I know about your new friends. I know what they're capable of."

Regulus' mouth twisted into a grimace. "I do, too. I'm sorry, Lily. I — I'm not sure what happened to Sally."

"It's too bad you won't be honest with me," said Lily. "I'd tell you where Sirius is, otherwise."

"No, you wouldn't."

"I would've," said Lily. "But seeing as you have a problem with the truth, that offer's rescinded now." Regulus flinched, and she softened a little. "Go back to Hogwarts, Regulus. Don't let your family use you as a pawn to hurt Sirius. You're better than that."

Regulus gave her a pained look. "I'm not. If you knew — if you had any idea what I've —"

"Oh, spare me the self-hatred," said Lily, who had had quite enough of that from Severus during fifth year. "You might go round with a bad crowd, but you're no Mulciber. Go home and let Sirius enjoy his birthday."

Regulus rubbed at his forehead. "You're being too kind to me."

I'm not being kind," said Lily. "I'm being honest."

"Honesty is a dangerous thing."

"Only if you have something to hide."

Regulus lifted his head a little, meeting her eyes. Unlike Sirius, there was something about his thin face that made him look so vulnerable.

"You can trust me," said Lily. She wasn't sure if that was true or not — she supposed it depended on whatever secret he was holding on to so tightly — but it seemed like the right thing to say.

His lips tightened, as if he'd made a decision, and he leaned towards her. "Lily," he said. His voice was barely louder than a breath. "Be careful. I've had a letter from my cousin. Hogwarts may not be safe."

Lily found herself whispering back. "I know it's not safe. Not if Sally…"

"Don't look for her," said Regulus. His voice was low and urgent. "You'll put yourself in danger. Promise me."

Lily swallowed. If she reached out, she could have touched his sweater with her fingertips. "I —"

"Regulus?" said a voice.

They sprang apart as quickly as if they had been pushed. Lily turned, and her stomach twisted guiltily. Sirius was striding towards them, followed by Remus.

"Sirius," said Regulus quickly, "I just wanted to —"

Sirius had a purple butterfly painted on his cheek, but it didn't detract from his murderous expression. "Get out."

Regulus didn't move. "I want to talk to you. Alone."

"Fat chance," said Sirius. His hand strayed towards his back pocket. "Leave before I make you."

Regulus peered around the booth. The park was crowded with people wandering from one attraction to another, clutching stuffed animals and all manner of sweets. "In plain view of Muggles? You wouldn't — you're not that stupid, are you?"

Sirius barked a laugh. "Real nice, Regulus. Very clever. LEAVE."

"Not until you talk to me," said Regulus.

"Back in Mum's good books, are you?" asked Sirius nastily. "I expect she sent you to find out when I'll stop by Grimmauld Place to assume my position as heir, did she? Well, the answer is never, so you can bugger off and relay that back to her —"

Regulus paled. "You're not going back?"

"Of course not," said Sirius. He let out a cruel laugh at Regulus' expression. "Don't tell me that's a surprise to you. After everything that happened this summer, did you actually expect I'd —"

A soft hand slipped into Lily's. "What's going on?" asked Mary. Behind her, Marlene was trying to balance both the stuffed lion and a massive amount of candy floss on a stick. "Is that Sirius' brother?"

Lily nodded. "Family drama."

Sirius and Regulus were still going at it. "She'll burn you off the tapestry!" said Regulus, his voice rising.

"No, she won't," said Sirius. He strode towards Regulus until they were nearly nose-to-nose, and reached towards his back pocket. Lily instinctively put her hand over her own wand, which was tucked into the waistband of her skirt. But when Sirius pulled his hand from his pocket, Lily blinked. Were those —

"Letters," said Sirius in response to Regulus' dumbfounded look. "Every day, she sends me letters. She's been begging me to come back. You expect me to buy that she'll burn me off the tapestry?"

"She will," said Regulus, though he sounded less certain now. "She told me —"

"You should know better than to believe what she tells you," said Sirius. "She lies as often as she breathes."

Regulus' eyes were fixed on the envelopes in Sirius' hand. "She's really — writing you? Nice things?"

"Looks to be that way," said Sirius. "Tell me, what sort of correspondence is she sending you these days?"

A flush crept up Regulus' pale neck. "That not fair —"

"We all heard the Howler," said Sirius. "Mummy's disappointed that her favourite son turned out to be a coward, isn't she? No wonder she's giving me a second chance, considering you turned out to be the weakest link —"

There was a flash of light, and Sirius went flying backwards. He collided into a popcorn stand, which crumpled under his weight. In an instant, he was back on his feet, wand out. He charged towards Regulus, who had emerged from behind the booth and was holding his wand aloft. A few of the nearby Muggles had turned at the noise, looking for the source of the commotion —

"Expelliarmus!" cried Lily at the same time as Remus. Sirius' wand flew out of his hand, and Regulus' wand soared towards Lily. She caught Regulus' wand easily, while Sirius' wand went to Remus. Sirius, surprised by the loss of his wand, stopped in his tracks.

Remus pocketed Sirius' wand cooly. "Come on, Padfoot. Let's go check out that booth with the milk bottles, I've heard it's got excellent prizes —"

"I'm not leaving till he does," growled Sirius. He glared at Regulus, who looked murderous. "I'm not turning my back on this Squib of a Black —"

Regulus started forward, but Lily put herself between him and Sirius. She turned to face Sirius, her face hot with anger. "'Squib' isn't an insult," she said. "Don't let me catch you using that kind of language again."

Sirius' eyes widened. "I only meant — you're right, of course it's not —"

"We'll take Regulus back to Hogwarts," said Lily, gesturing towards herself, Mary and Marlene. "We can take our Portkey to Hogsmeade."

"Evans," began Sirius, but she had turned towards Remus.

"Don't give him back his wand."

"I wasn't planning on it," said Remus calmly.

Lily smiled a little. "We won the stuffed lion at the booth with the milk bottles, you know. The one with the rifle turned out to be rigged."

"Excellent," said Remus, returning her smile. "We'll go to the one with the milk bottles, then, see what we can get there." He put a hand on Sirius' shoulder and steered him away until they both vanished into the crowd of Muggles.

Lily sighed and looked at Mary and Marlene, who was holding Regulus by the collar of his jumper. She hated travelling by magic, but they had no other choice. "You've still got the Portkey, Marly?"

Marlene fished around in her bag with her free hand and eventually pulled out a crinkled gum wrapper. She set it on the ground, and, crouching, pulled her wand slightly out of her sleeve and began to mutter an incantation.

"Ready," said Marlene after a minute. She, Lily and Mary each took a corner of the wrapper. After a moment, Regulus, looking defeated, touched a finger to one of the wrapper's sides. The Portkey began to glow brightly. Lily's body was yanked forward, and then she was spinning, falling through space.

Sirius refused to acknowledge that the booth with the milk bottles was any fun at all. He scowled the entire time Remus had a go at knocking over the bottles using a little white ball. Finally, after winning a small stuffed dog (technically, the prize had been a stuffed monkey, but a few charms from Remus while the Muggle attendant was distracted had fixed that easily enough), Remus turned to Sirius with a sigh. "You're just going to sit there and pout, then?"

"I'm not pouting," said Sirius sullenly.

Remus said nothing, which meant Sirius had to fill the silence with the truth. "Fine," he said. "I am, a little. I just — I dunno where Reg gets off, coming here. Saying he wants to talk, as if we can't talk perfectly well at Hogwarts. But no, we have to do it two hundred miles away in bloody Lancashire instead…"

Remus held the stuffed dog out towards Sirius, and he eyed it sceptically. It was small and black with soft-looking fur and mournful grey eyes. "That looks like Padfoot."

"I know," said Remus. "Happy birthday, Sirius."

Sirius grabbed it and crossed his arms. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," said Remus, tossing the Muggle attendant at the booth a few coins. "Fancy a drink or several?"

Sirius squeezed the dog tighter. "Now you're speaking my language."

They ended up on the roof of the ticket office, sharing a flask that Remus had hidden under his coat. The theme park with all its dazzling lights stretched before them, packed with Muggles who were laughing and eating and talking loudly. Sirius had spent all evening looking for Dorcas in the crowd, but he hadn't seen her. It had been a long shot, anyway. Lancashire was probably far from London, for a Muggle.

"Should I feel sorry?" asked Sirius, setting down the flask. By all rights, they should have finished it by now, but somehow the little metal container remained nearly full.

"For what?" asked Remus. "Nearly breaking the Statute of Secrecy during your attempted duel with your brother?"

Sirius reached over and jostled him. "You know for what."

Remus smiled a little. His eyes were on the big wheel which loomed over them, bright and round like a neon moon. "You really got under Regulus' skin, didn't you?"

Sirius grunted. "He shouldn't have come here."

"No," agreed Remus. "He shouldn't have. But you can't honestly be surprised that he did."

Sirius shrugged and reached for the flask. "Well, I'm not sorry for being horrible to him, even if I ought to be. He's the same with me, sometimes. Knows just what to say."

"You don't have to justify yourself to me. I never said you had to be sorry."

Sirius fiddled with the cap of the flask. "I don't know why I do things sometimes. When I saw him... I wanted to make him angry. I lied to him, too." He pulled the letters out of his pocket. "I told him our mum's been begging me to come home, but I honestly don't know what these letters say. I haven't read them. Haven't read any since the first."

Remus was watching Sirius now, with that expression he sometimes got — like he was trying to see down to Sirius' bones. "Why not?"

"Because they're from her."

"Your mum?"

"Yeah." Sirius sighed. "Regulus and I get under each other's skin, but we're nothing compared to our mum. She uses words like a weapon. She knows exactly what to say to get the results she wants. Whatever she's written, it'll hurt. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of the lot of them." He leaned into Remus, resting his head on Remus' shoulder.

Remus tensed. "Regulus… that is…" He sounded a little unsteady. "Regulus said something about your responsibilities as heir. What was that about, exactly?"

"My responsibilities? Nothing exciting. I'm supposed to help my father manage the family fortune — making investments, that sort of thing. But I won't do it. I won't go back to Grimmauld Place."

A crease formed between Remus' eyebrows. "You want them to disown you."

"Yes," said Sirius.

"Because of the way they've treated you?"

"Because I hate them." The dark, ugly truth rose like bile in his throat. "I wish I didn't, but I do. I truly do." He flopped onto his back, and the rough tiling of the roof caught against the fabric of his coat. After a moment, Remus lay down beside him. Sirius searched the sky, trying to make out the constellations, but the lights from the theme park were so bright that night was endlessly black.

Sirius spoke first. "You and I… we're alright, aren't we? You'd tell me if we weren't?"

"Padfoot." Remus sounded half-exasperated. "Trust me. We're fine."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Even though, last year — I…"

"Forgiven," said Remus firmly. "You made a mistake. You apologized. That's all there is to it."

"You don't make mistakes."

"Tell that to the P I got on McGonagall's essay on Switching Spells."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." There was an aeroplane far above them. Its yellow lights winked as it moved across the sky. "All I do is make mistakes," said Sirius. "You. Dorcas. Reg. I hurt people. And I know when I'm about to do it. I know I'm making a mistake. I just don't care."

"To be fair, your childhood didn't exactly include morality lessons."

"That's no excuse," said Sirius. He sat upright, suddenly angry, and jabbed a finger at Remus. "You've been a werewolf since you were five. Your childhood was worse than mine and Reg's put together, and somehow you're not bitter. You don't hurt people. You don't hate anyone. You're good."

Remus' voice was as calm as pond water. "I'm bitter."

"No, you're not. You're good, and you always do the right thing, and I don't know why you hang around arseholes like me when — when —"

Remus picked up the flask and turned it over in his hands. "How much have you had to drink tonight, Pads?"

"Hush. We're talking about you."

Remus didn't respond for a long minute. "Since you've been so forthcoming tonight," he said at last, "I'll let you know something about me." He sat up and turned to face Sirius directly. "I'm a coward. I'm afraid of everything."

"You're not a coward," said Sirius immediately. "Moony, you —"

"There's no need to flatter me," said Remus. He fiddled with the sleeve of his jumper, pulling at a fraying thread. "I'm afraid of you lot abandoning me. I'm afraid of my secret getting out. I'm afraid of the moon." They both glanced up, nearly reflexively, at the moon, which hung heavy and bright in the sky.

"Look," said Sirius. "I know the self-loathing thing is very Moony, and all, but if you're a coward, then I am too."

"Come off it," said Remus. "You might be a bit hard-headed, but you're not —"

"You think I'm not afraid of my family? Of what would have happened if I'd listened to whatever rubbish Reg had to say tonight? I can't even open my mum's letters —"

"That's different," said Remus. "Those are rational fears."

"Your fears are rational, too."

"They're really not," said Remus. "All I've got is a bunch of useless worries running around my head."

Sirius glanced at Remus. He looked as composed and as kind as he always did. "You do a good job of hiding it."

Remus gave him a small, sad smile. "I'm good at hiding things." He stood and stretched a hand towards Sirius, helping him to his feet. "Let's go back to the others before they start to wonder where we've gone."

A/N: I've had some really lovely comments the past few weeks, so I just wanted to say a heartfelt thanks to those who have commented! I'm glad that people are enjoying the journey with these characters as much as I am :)